Bryan Kelly facts for kids
Bryan George Kelly (born January 3, 1934) is an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was born in Oxford, England. He is known for writing many different kinds of music, from exciting orchestral pieces to fun educational tunes.
Early Life and Learning
Bryan Kelly started his musical journey as a choir boy at Worcester College, Oxford. He went to Southfield Grammar School. He learned a lot from Harold Spicer, a long-time organist and choirmaster.
Later, he studied at the Royal College of Music with famous composers like Gordon Jacob and Herbert Howells. He also traveled to Paris to learn from Nadia Boulanger, a very important music teacher.
After his studies, Bryan Kelly became a teacher himself. He taught at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music. He even spent time teaching in countries like America, Italy, France, and Egypt.
His Music
Bryan Kelly has written many different types of music. His works include light orchestral pieces and music for brass bands. He also composed more serious orchestral works, like his Symphony from 1983.
Some of his church music is quite unique. For example, his Magnificat and Nunc dimittis from 1965 use lively Latin American rhythms.
He wrote several fun orchestral pieces, such as the Cuban Suite and the New Orleans Suite. He also composed Divertissement. Two of his pieces, the overture Sancho Panza (1969) and the Sinfonia Concertante (1967), were written for the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra. An overture is a piece of music played at the beginning of a show or concert.
For brass bands, he wrote Brass Bagatelles, the overture Provence, and the Divertimento for Brass. In 1961, he wrote a piano piece called Tango for the pianist Peter Katin.
Bryan Kelly also loves creating music for instruments to play alone, and educational music. A great example is his Whodunnit Suite for trumpet and piano. This suite has fun movements with names like:
- 'Poirot (Detective)'
- 'Lavinia Lurex (Actress)'
- 'Colonel Glib (Retired)'
- 'Miss Slight (Spinster of This Parish)'
- 'The Chief Suspect'
- 'The Chase'
Recordings of His Work
You can find Bryan Kelly's music on several recordings. Heritage has released two CDs featuring his orchestral music.
- Volume One (2014): This CD includes pieces like Left Bank Suite, A Christmas Celebration, and Concertante Dances. It also has the Globe Theatre Suite for recorder and strings.
- Volume Two (2021): This recording features Fantasy Overture: San Francisco, Calypso’s Isle, and Concerto for Two Trumpets.
The choir of Clare College, Cambridge, also released a CD of his choral music in 2001. This CD includes the cantata Crucifixion and the popular carol This Lovely Lady. You can even find a recording of his Symphony No 1 (from 1983) by the City of Oxford Orchestra on YouTube.
